Phan Dung Tourism, the green road

During the historic April days, we continued our journey to the old war zone in the Phan Dung mountains and forests. Through the places, the mountain and forest scenery gave us a feeling of wildness and nature. The forests that once sheltered the troops and prevented the enemy now have a new look and can become a green road when exploited for tourism .

Leaving Phan Dung irrigation lake, along the gentle Ta Uong river, following the gravel road, we headed to a place called Phum. Phum, in the language of the Rac Lay ethnic group, means a large field. During the resistance war, this was a place to increase production such as rice and various foods for the army. Currently, Phum has many fields of the Phan Dung ethnic group and also Kinh people from Lien Huong and Phong Phu. They mainly grow short-term agricultural crops such as beans, corn, rice, and sesame. The land here is quite good with a year-round water source, so everywhere you look you see a green color. Although located deep in the mountains and forests, the land here is flat like a basin surrounded by mountains. The peaceful scenery makes people closer to nature.

Saying goodbye to Phum, we headed to another place in Phan Dung commune called Tan Le. If Phum was a place for food production, Tan Le was the military base of Tuy Phong district at that time. Passing through quite high slopes, we arrived after nearly 2 hours of walking. Before us was Tan Le stream winding through big trees. The scenery was quite beautiful with small waterfalls interwoven with undulating rapids and clear water. The forest here was beautiful and had many precious woods such as Cam Lien, Ca Chi, Cam Xe, Sao, Go, and Giang Huong trees... They grew very evenly and were of the same size with a diameter of 20 to 30 cm and the deeper we went, the more big trees appeared. Because it was strictly protected, there were still many wild orchids blooming here.

Leaving Tan Le on the asphalt road constructed in 2014, we headed to Yaly waterfall located on Ta Hoang ravine. Spring was over but Phan Dung mountains and forests still had the romance of the colors of leaves and flowers. About 30 minutes later, we arrived at a place called Tang Thu. This is a place with quite fertile, flat land surrounded by undulating mountain ranges. The natural scenery is beautiful in the majesty of the mountains and forests and a bit of romance of grass and flowers. Tang Thu is an ancient land, home to Phan Dung people before and during the resistance war. At that time, Phan Dung people lived here concentratedly, stretching up to Ta Hoang. Past Tang Thu, we got lost in a beautiful Lagerstroemia forest. The Lagerstroemia trees with white trunks grow evenly, straight, without intermingling. At noon, the rays of sunlight through the leaves illuminate the clusters of purple flowers, so beautiful, peaceful and poetic. The scenery is truly captivating.

Past the purple-flowered forest, we arrived at Ta Hoang base. Besides being a revolutionary base, Ta Hoang is also a very special land. Coming here, we will see ancient-style rice fields and stilt houses hidden in the mountains. Ta Hoang used to be the ancient land of Phan Dung people. When peace was restored, the Party and the State persuaded the people to go down the mountain to a flat area, easier to travel and develop life. Until now, Ta Hoang is still the soul of the homeland, a place for people to return to when remembering their ancestors.

Through the ancient rice fields typical of the Rac Lay people, we reached Ta Hoang stream. This is the downstream of Yaly waterfall that we were heading to. From afar, we heard the sound of the waterfall echoing through a corner of the forest. Following the rocky Ta Hoang stream and shaded by ancient trees, we reached the waterfall in joy and happiness.

Yaly waterfall is quite beautiful, pouring down from a height of more than 100m, creating white foam. At the foot of the waterfall is a lake about 100m2 wide, about 1m deep, the water is so clear you can see the bottom.

It is impossible to compare which waterfalls in Binh Thuan are more beautiful because each waterfall has its own beauty. There are beautiful waterfalls with the majesty of the mountains and forests, but there are also waterfalls with the wild, graceful beauty of the mountainous region. To us, Yaly waterfall is like a gentle muse in the mountains and forests of Phan Dung. This season, the waterfall has little water, so when the sun is high, the waterfall passes through the sparkling rays of sunlight, very poetic and romantic. Blue sky, white clouds, around the waterfall are forest trees that always bloom seasonally with a fragrant scent that invites flocks of colorful butterflies to flutter around. Only when we come to enjoy and immerse ourselves in nature here can we fully feel the beauty and poetry of an emotional mountain forest like Yaly waterfall.

It can be said that, coming to Phan Dung mountains and forests is coming to the natural landscape of mountains and forests filled with emotions. From the pride of the revolutionary base with the place names Phum, Tan Le, the ancient land of Tang Thu or the homeland of Ta Hoang of Phan Dung people, all give us unique and interesting emotions.

Recently, trekking tourism is becoming a trend, the La Ba - Phan Dung - Ta Nang route will be a green flower road for Binh Thuan tourism.

Trekking is an activity of hiking on complex terrain to explore wild nature combined with outdoor tourism, adventure sports tourism, camping in the forest... limited in facilities or necessary needs. Therefore, exploring Phan Dung mountains and forests will be an interesting and adventurous experience but also full of poetry for a journey.

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